DIIS seminar: Illegale pengestrømme og deres indvirkning på fem afrikanske lande

Illicit flows of capital due to trade misinvoicing through developing countries is one of the most pressing challenges facing local policymakers. The global figure for illicit financial outflows from developing countries is approximately USD 542 billion per year on average, and trade mis-invoicing makes up close to 80 per cent of this or USD 424 billion.

Capital flight, facilitated by a global network of secrecy jurisdictions and complex, opaque corporate and account structures, robs governments and societies of needed revenue for domestic investment in the private sector, infrastructure development, and the provision of vital social services. This translates into lost opportunities, lost jobs, and lost potential.

In the new Danida funded study “Hiding in Plain Sight, Trade Misinvoicing and the Impact of Revenue Loss in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda: 2002-2011”, researchers from Global Financial Integrity explore the economic and the policy side of the issue of trade misinvoicing using case studies of Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda – all Danish priority countries and long-standing partners in development cooperation.

Data on illicit flows for these five countries demonstrate the varying magnitudes, sources, and consequences of trade misinvoicing at the country level and provide hope and warning to other developing countries.

Trade misinvoicing is a significant source of illicit outflows and inflows of capital in each country, resulting in billions of dollars of lost investment and hundreds of millions of dollars in unrealized domestic resource mobilization.

This seminar will provide an opportunity to discuss the severe impact of illicit financial flows connected with trade misinvoicing in Africa and measures to curb them. What can the countries do themselves and how can the international community support their efforts?

Speakers